I approached the coaster
There it was in front of me like
A big green giant
Ready to devour me
I peered over at my brother
He didn’t seem too nervous at all
Now the gates open
Too late to go back
Second thoughts are now drowned out
By the creak of the gates while they open
I get in the car

The coaster starts to move
Almost as if I have jumped on the back
Of an angry lion
Ready to make me a snack
I grip the seat for comfort
Up up up we go
The coaster is squealing
Like a young pig
Going up up up
Chugging along
Like a train moving slowly along the tracks
Then I see over the top of the hill
The coaster drops down and looks like it touches
The roads in the Vegas Strip below
It smells sweaty
Like the hot, heavy desert air
My heart drops down in my chest
My knees go weak
“Oh no.”

I feel the wind slashing my face
The thrill rushes through my body
At the same time
The fear remains in my body
The coaster begins to go up
I sense that the loop is coming
My brother throws his arms up

Then his phone leaps from his pocket
It falls almost as if in slow motion
He snags it out of thin air and squeezes it tight
Now I know
The hard part is over
We approach the end
The end of the fear
The end of the thrill
The end of the ride.